President Trump Cannot Redeem Himself<br />He fell miles short of stirring:<br />“Justice will be delivered.” “No matter the color of our skin, we all live under<br />the same laws.” “We are all made by the same Almighty God.” “Racism is evil.”<br />Amen, amen, amen and amen, but this preacher’s sermons have been wildly inconsistent and as often designed to divide as to unite.<br />Back on Saturday, when Trump was still hemming, hawing<br />and hiding, Cruz released a statement superior to what Trump, with more time and the help of many aides, delivered on Monday<br />We saw Donald Trump’s true colors on Saturday, when he was given the chance — a ready-made moment for presidential grace — to denounce the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va.,<br />and instead found wrongdoing “on many sides.” That was Trump minus the pressure and the planning.<br />Don’t get me wrong: I’d rather that Trump said what he did on Monday than maintain<br />his silence, which was breathtaking, galling — and spectacularly revealing.<br />And neither can his fellow Republicans, who find themselves at another juncture — maybe the most important one yet —<br />where they must decide whether to continue showing him allegiance or carve out greater space between him and them.<br />That was his path to power, one much uglier than most politicians travel,<br />and his election didn’t do what so many of the Republicans who reluctantly supported him hoped that it would and make him a bigger person.
